Out of Oneness Pentecostal Error

"Placing Faith in the Baptizer, Not the Baptism"
by David Vivas, Jr.

"Am I your brother in Christ, yes or no?" asked
Dr. Walter Martin in a debate with United Pentecostal Church
representatives Nathaniel Urshan and Robert Sabin, which took
place on the John Ankerberg Show in 1985. As I sat and observed
Brother Urshans reluctance to give a direct response to the
question, my mind pondered in dismay over the fact that my own
General Superintendent would not answer, NO, YOU ARE NOT MY
BROTHER IN CHRIST. This would have been a common response coming
from a Oneness adherent to a Trinitarian believer.

I would like to share with you my experience in the United
Pentecostal Church. The intentions of this article are not to
bash Oneness believers, but rather to help inform the Christian
Church of the dangers that exist in legalistic movements of our
day.

I was raised in the Assemblies of God. My mother, who was
Catholic, had intentions of sending me to the Catholic Church. My
father, who was Protestant, would not allow my mother to send me
to the Catholic Church. Instead, he sent me every Sunday with his
parents to Sunday School at the Assemblies of God. My mother and
father were saved several years later, and we attended a
Pentecostal Church in a nearby city. I was involved in the church
and saw 15 of my high school-friends saved. By this time I was 15
years old. At school I began encountering classmates who attended
the United Pentecostal Church in our city. I had countless
discussions with them on the subjects of the godhead and water
baptism. After several vigorous attempts to respond to their
Oneness claims and the many scriptures on water baptism, I became
persuaded of their theology, and even went as far as to doubt my
salvation.

I became very angry and bitter with my parents, pastor, and
Sunday school teachers whom I thought had led me in error since I
was a child. I was told by the UPC that the doctrine of the
Trinity was in actuality a belief in three Gods. They also told
me that I had been baptized the wrong way. They insisted that the
name Jesus Christ must be spoken over an individual when being
baptized and that those who have been baptized in the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had been erroneously baptized. They
asked me to show them in the Bible where anyone was baptized in
the Triune formula and insisted that every instance of biblical
baptism occurred in the name of Jesus Christ, (that is, with the
name pronounced over them).

I soon told my parents of my decision to attend the United
Pentecostal Church. They opposed my decision. By this time I had
attended the UPC on several different occasions without the
consent of my parents. After becoming aware of my excursions they
grew concerned. After my first few visits, I was determined to be
baptized the right way so that I could surely be saved.

Since my attending the UPC went against my fathers will, I moved
out of my parents home at age 16. As a result, I found myself
living with different members of the church. Three months later,
I was set up on the platform for preaching purposes.

I became heavily indoctrinated with various books and materials
published by the UPC. I devoted my time to the listening of
debate tapes between Oneness preachers and Trinitarians. I
learned all the Oneness responses to Trinitarian theology, and
became dogmatically opposed to Trinitarians. In August 1989,
after being a part of the ministerial staff of the local UPC
church, I became licensed with the organization. I started a
prison ministry in which about 75 inmates were baptized in two
years. I was very zealous with church activities.

I was familiar with Dr. Walter Martin and had obtained a number
of his writings and tapes. Although I didn't believe he was saved
at the time, I admired his knowledge in the area of comparative
religions. Upon hearing of Dr. Martins passing in June of 1989, I
attended his Memorial service in Southern California. During the
Memorial Service, I was moved by the comments made by different
individuals concerning him, and was battling in my mind how I was
to consider this man lost and in error, when his very life and
ministry had helped so many thousands through the years. Yet, I
could not compromise with what I thought was the Truth.

I was loaned a video of the debate mentioned above which took
place on The John Ankerberg Show (The Trinity or Jesus Only: What
Do The Scriptures Teach?) My first impressions of the debate left
me disappointed. Dr. Martin and Cal Beisner were very thorough in
their presentation and defense of Orthodox Christianity, while in
my prideful opinion, the opposition delivered a poor defense of
Oneness theology. So to more effectively present and defend
Oneness doctrines, I began investing in scholarly works in the
areas of Church History and Word Studies in Hebrew and Greek. To
my astonishment, I discovered several faulty interpretations of
church history as taught by the UPC. There were also a number of
grammatical discrepancies of certain key passages that had gone
by unnoticed and are in fact used to distort the meaning within
the context of the passage.

During the last year of my involvement with the UPC, I analyzed
the teachings of my local church. We were taught by our local
pastor that he was going to answer for us on Judgment Day
concerning our lives and personal experiences with God. We were
taught that if we missed a church service, we would have to give
an account to God as to why we missed. We were discouraged from
attending family outings on a church night. When wanting to do
so, members young and old alike, had to ask permission from the
pastor. More often than not, the answer was no. Where are your
priorities, he would ask, to God or your family? This would
engender a sense of guilt among the members of the church.
Scriptures were manipulated and effectively used to intimidate
members who consequently had no rights or say-so. The pastor was
always right, because he proclaimed himself the man of God who
was not to be questioned.

In my experience I wanted to attend a Memorial Service of a
relative. I was asked by the pastor if it was really necessary
for me to attend since it was on a church night. He answered Let
the dead bury the dead. Needless to say I was in church that
night. I found that not only did he manipulate scripture and
coerce the people but was in fact acting as a dictator.

There were also the extremes of legalism which exist in most
United Pentecostal congregations. Men were not permitted to wear
mustaches, women were not allowed to wear pants or slacks,
make-up, jewelry or cut their hair. And neither could wear
sleeves above the elbows. These were all considered Holiness
Standards. Television was disapproved of since it was considered
a pipeline from hell into the home. To violate any of these
standards, a member was considered to be rebellious and
disobedient to the Word of God, not to mention their pastor. It
became a salvation of works rather than grace. If a person did
not follow these standards, they could not possibly be saved. The
church was governed by modern-day Phariseeism.

Looking back now, I can see the bondage of the people caused by
presumed self-righteousness - which they flaunted by their holy
attire. It became, as the Apostle Paul said, ... a form of
godliness (2 Timothy 3:5).

Another incident happened that further disturbed me. Different
people from our local church left to attend another United
Pentecostal Church and were informally disfellowshiped because
they did so. We were taught that we must attend the church
wherein we were saved. If one left the local assembly to attend
another Oneness Church, they were considered rebels and lost,
thus the disfellowshiping.

I knew that this teaching was not even remotely Biblical. I then
began to thoroughly re-examine the teachings of the church. These
and other situations prompted me to analyze the teachings of the
organization as a whole. I asked a friend of mine (who was a
disfellowshiped member attending a nearby United Pentecostal
Church) to once again review with me the Ankerberg debate, this
time, with open hearts, open minds, and unbiased
intentions.

All of the evidences given by Martin and Beisner were
irrefutable. We checked out many of the references and found them
to be accurate and correct. Martin explained many of the passages
the UPC representatives quoted. For example in John 10:30 Jesus
said, I and my Father are one. Oneness adherents maintain that
this proves Jesus and the Father are one person. Yet Martin
brought out that the Greek in this passage reads: ... we are in
union. (See further a Greek Interlinear Bible in this passage for
the Greek word ESMEN. It translates we are.) Deuteronomy 6:4 was
also quoted. Again Martin and Beisner explained that the Hebrew
word for one in this passage is ECHAD -- meaning a compound
unity.

Finally, at the end of the program Martin asked Nathaniel Urshan
if all those who had been baptized in the Triune formula were
lost and going to hell. Urshan expressed his uncertainty with a
hesitant response. My stomach turned because the answer should
have been an emphatic: Yes! They are lost and going to hell. The
UPC emphatically teaches that one must be baptized with the name
Jesus Christ pronounced over them. Further, one must speak in
tongues as the essential evidence of being filled with the Holy
Spirit. One could not be saved otherwise. In addition, members
must follow the legalism taught in their church, be it shaving
off ones mustache or wearing sleeves below the elbow, or for
women refraining from wearing pants, cosmetics, jewelry, and so
forth. Therefore it then becomes a salvation by works, and not by
grace.

What I never understood was how one who believed in the Trinity,
and yet was filled with the Holy Spirit, could be lost. How could
the Holy Spirit dwell in an unclean temple?, I thought. Sins were
washed away only after being immersed in water. The Scriptures
did not teach baptismal regeneration as I was taught to believe.
This doctrine was contrary to the biblical concept of salvation
by grace.

I was deliberating at this time whether to continue with the UPC
or withdraw membership. I finally decided one month later to turn
in my ministerial license with the UPC. At first I questioned my
decision. I felt as though my very soul was in jeopardy. But I
just could not deny the evidence of Scripture. What was I to
listen to? My pastor? The UPC? No! The Word of God! The Bible was
clear in Ephesians 2:8-9,For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works,
lest any man should boast.

I could not deny the fruit of the Spirit I saw in other
Christians who were not United Pentecostal. This began to bear
witness with my spirit and consequently appeased my unsettled
conscience. I learned a very valuable lesson when I realized Gods
love was unconditional! The local UPC pastor taught members to
have nothing to do with those who left the church. Upon leaving
the church, I was marked off-limits to the general membership and
considered to have reached a reprobate state. I deduced by this
their love for me and former members was purely and unmistakably
conditional.

The Bible encourages us to: Prove all things, hold fast to that
which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Even the Apostle Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 10:15 ... judge for yourselves what I say. 1
John 4:1 exclaims, Beloved, BELIEVE NOT every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Finally, we are to be like the Bereans
in Acts 17:11 ... they searched the scriptures daily, whether
those things were so.

If you are in the United Pentecostal Church or some other form of
legalistic movement, and are disturbed by what goes on, do not be
afraid to stand up for truth.

The members of the local UPC church I attended looked to the
Pastor as the authority figure. Members would not question his
stand on any particular issue, for fear of being marked. Members
could not go on a vacation or miss a church service without the
pastors permission. He became their dictator and ruled over them
with unchallenged authority. The Bible does not support this.
(See further, Matthew 20:25-27; 1 Peter 5:3.) If this is the
situation you find yourself in, and want out, there is hope for
you. I began to see that the general attitude of the UPC as a
whole, likened itself to that of the Pharisees of the New
Testament. They appeared outwardly to men as being holy, but
their insides were corrupt and rotten. (See further, Matthew
23.)

Now that I am out of the UPC, I have found out what true liberty
in Christ is. My identity is now with The Baptizer, and not with
a baptism. My sincere prayer for those who are trapped inside of
a legalistic movement, such as the UPC, is for them to come out
and experience what true freedom in Christ is, and that in their
search for truth, they will come to know Him who is Truth.

Should you have any questions concerning David's experiences
before and after his decision to leave the UPC, please don't
hesitate to write to David at: